Snowy Disposition
by Yeahjusttrash
Summary: The three teens all get snowed in at Ash's apartment. Roads are closed, powers out, the whole shebang! But it's only one night, what could wrong? (A lot. A lot can go wrong) Rated T for language. Mostly fluff... with a surprise.
1. Chapter 1

**Yeeeeeah... I started this back in December and finally finished it. The whole story is done, but I'm only posting a chapter a day. (Unless I forget) so enjoy a winter themed fic and just ignore the fact it's goin up in March. ? Thanks!**

 **(read til the end of the chapter, there's a twist)**

Getting snowed in didn't seem like the worse thing in the world. Ash hadn't realized it was going to snow so much when she invited her friends to her place after work. Had the porcupine known the heavy snow would shift into a full on storm and trap the Meena and Johnny in with her, she probably wouldn't have invited them. That said, Ash was still kind of glad they were there with her. She was still adjusting to life on her own and had found she actually didn't like living alone. Too proud to say anything about it though, she just invited the elephant and gorilla over as often as possible. Meena and Johnny were the only close friends Ash had that weren't also friends with Lance. After the breakup, Ash had learned that a majority of their friends had really been his friends, which stung. Luckily, she dumped him right when she met everyone at Moon theater and was lucky enough to have them all take a liking to her. Except Mike, but Ash wasn't sure he liked anyone other than himself.

Things had changed a lot over the year they had all been working for Mr. Moon. Johnny had admitted he didn't like being alone and had taken Rosita's very insistent offer to stay with her family. Meena had grown surprisingly close to Ash despite her shy nature and Ash had spent much of her time at Meena's house to avoid her own empty apartment. Ash never told the elephant this, or anyone for that matter. And when Meena's mother, Leslie, got suspicious and offered to have Ash stay with them, the porcupine couldn't bring herself to accept.

But, she still found reasons for inviting both the other teens to her apartment whenever possible. Today, she hadn't bothered coming up with a good excuse and simply ask of they'd come over and hang.

Meena had long since caught on to the fact Ash sometimes couldn't stand being alone, and this felt like one of those times. She had smiled innocently when agreeing to come over and send her mother a text saying she probably won't be home until the next day. Johnny had no clue Ash felt lonely and had just agreed because he had nothing else planned.

Now here they were, trapped by a heavy layer of snow and chilling temperatures. The three had been throughly occupied by trying to best each other at violent video games and coming up with witty comebacks, so none of them bothered to look out a window until Leslie call her daughter's phone. After Meena jumped from her phone going off and fumbled to bring it to her ear, she heard her mother warn her not to try to come home. Meena got up to look out a window and saw the unforgiving winter land outside.

"Uh, guys?" Meena piped up, diverting Ash's and Johnny's attention from the T.V. screen. They looked in the direction she was facing and saw frozen scene outside.

Johnny gave an long whisper at the sight. Ash's eyes brows shot up and her expression turned guilty at the realization that she had essentially trapped her friends in with her. Her guilt was short lived after Johnny shot her a sheepish smile and spoke up. "Guess you're stuck with us for the night. Sorry 'bout that."

"Huh? Oh! No, it's fine! I don't mind you guys being around!" Ash answered a little more forcefully than she would have liked, thankfully the other two didn't seem to notice.

Getting snowed in didn't seem that bad, but it got worse a few minutes later. Johnny had called Rosita's household and was in the middle of explaining what was going on to her when the light suddenly went out and the other end of his conversation got dropped. "Er, hello? ...hellooo? ...Line's dead. The power outage must've hit them too." He looked up at the girl's from his spot on the couch with a shrug. After looking back at his phone, his brow furrowed in concern as he continued. "In fact... I don't 'ave any service at all. Or data."

The other two quickly checked their phones as well and found themselves in a similar situation. A quick rush of nerves passed through all three of them as they became unsettlingly aware of how disconnected they were from the rest of the world. Johnny was the first to shake it off as he got off the couch. Animals had survived thousands of years without internet and electricity, he figured they could survive the night. "Ey, Ash? Ya' got any torches or anything?"

His question brought Ash back from the edge of internal panic and she gave him a throughly confused stare. "...Why would I have a- Oh! you mean flashlight!" Her face lit up with realization. "Yeah, there should be some in the kitchen. Top far right drawer." She got up and walked out of the living room, pointing Johnny down the hall towards her small kitchen. The gorilla rolled his eyes at the torch comment as he causally stuck his hands in his pockets and headed down the hall. Meena shuffled after Ash and followed the porcupine into her room.

After a bit of scrounging around, Ash produced some key chain lights, a couple electric lanterns, and an impressive number of candles. The two were sat on Ash's bed looking over the light sources critically and had started discussing where each should go when they heard a disgusted shout from the kitchen.

"Gwuack! Ash! When's the last time ya' took yer trash out!" Johnny called and got the attention of both girls.

"When I kicked Lance out!" Ash shouted back without needing to think. This earned heard a snicker and light high five front from the elephant sat next to her. "But seriously, yeah, it's been a while!" She called with a shrug as she started climbing down from her bed. Rustling sounds from the kitchen made Ash walk quicker down the hall. She walked in on Johnny grumbling and tying off the garbage bag with a thoroughly grossed out expression.

Glancing up, he caught sight of the porcupine in the doorway watching him skeptically. "I'm gonna take this real quick, kay?" He switched back to his normal, cheery demeanor and gave a smile as he spoke. This didn't stop Ash from giving him a uneasy look from where she was leaning against the doorframe.

"Dude, just leave it 'til tomorrow." Ash dismissed the overstuffed plastic bag threatening to break at any minute.

Johnny was not deterred and slung the bag over his shoulder. "It still kinda light out na'. 'Nd the dumpste' right next next to the building, it'll be fine." He reasoned soundly as he brushed off her concerns and lugged the bag out of the kitchen. Ash shrugged and allowed him to pass, no bothering to argue further. The same could not be said for Meena.

As soon as the elephant spotted Johnny headed towards the door and realized he was intending to go outside, she immediately tried to reason him out of it. After a good five minutes of reassuring Meena that he wasn't going to slip on the icy ground and fall to his death or get impaled by an icicle, he managed to slip out the front door and away from Meena's fretting stare. Ash rolled her eyes at how Meena worriedly watch the door, waiting for her friend's safe return. She grabbed the elephant's hand to pull her away and have her help set up candles and other lighting method for when it got dark.

The girls were mostly finished setting everything when they heard the front open and close with a heavy thud. But rather than hear their friend continued further into the apartment, they heard Johnny's eerily unsteady voice. "Um...g-guys...?" His voice wavered and both girls glanced at each other in concern before quickly darting from the living room to the hall. They found Johnny wide-eyed with his back pressed against the door with a look of utter shock. Snow clung to his jeans and the arms of his thick leather jacket were dirty. In his arms was of mess of cloth. Meena's first thought upon seeing him was to wonder what was causing the almost horrified expression he had. Ash's first thought was to wonder why he was carrying what looked like filthy curtains.

The porcupine opened her mouth to ask Johnny why he had apparently stolen curtains out of the dumpster when said curtains started to move. The bundle squirmed and a tiny paw kicked up into view. The movement was accompanied by an awakening gurgle, followed by strained crying. Ash's jaw dropped and Meena gasped as she hurried to where Johnny was frozen in place with the bundle. "Oh my god!" The elephant breath out when her peered down at the incredibly young cub squirming in its fabric cocoon. She carefully took the bundle from her paralyzed friend and quickly carried it further into the warmth of the apartment, leaving Ash and Johnny in the hall to process what just happened.

"You were just taking out the trash!" Ash spit out in disbelief. "Where the hell did you get a baby?!" She shot a hand out in the direction Meena had just went with their new house guest.

Johnny looked down at her helplessly. "It was in the dumpste'." He answered in a bleak tone. Ash dragged a hand over her face and came to terms with the fact that they were snowed, without power or means of contacting anyone, and with an baby. This was bad.

 **Surprise! Betcha weren't expecting a baby were ya?! I have been dying to write about these guys with an infant! I always wonder** **what they'd be like around kids or babies. Now we'll find out!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, I did a bunch of research on cubs, stray kittens, and babies in general cuz I kinda wanted this to have accurate info. That being said, this is a fic about animated kids movie about talking animals, so there are many unrealistic aspects. Anyways, here's a little side note: don't actually give stray kittens milk! They need kitten formula.**  
-

Meena immediately took charge with the infant, which the other two were grateful for seeing as neither of them had any idea what to do with a baby. The normally timid elephant actually had a lot of experience with infants when her neighbor polar bear had had twins and needed a babysitter. The first order of business was making sure the baby's core temperature was warm enough. One of the first things Meena did was remove and swaddle the child in her own hoodie, hoping the warmth it had absorbed her body would help the infant. Next, she carried the child to Ash's bathroom and let the sink run until the water turned warm. Ash and Johnny were in the door way at this point, watching Meena prep the baby for a bath.

Johnny was the first to hesitantly offer to help. He knew nothing about working with babies and was honestly scared of hurting the tiny cub. But if someone as large and strong as Meena could carry around the tiny infant without fear, Johnny figured he could at least try to be helpful.

Meena ordered him over and he shuffled up next to her waiting to be told what to do. Ash followed after a moment at stood up of her stool she used to reach her sink. Her apartment hadn't exactly been designed for an animal as small as her.

Both the rocker and rebel watched intensely as Meena unwrapped the infant, revealing a squirming, dirty, little tiger cub. The cub had short, fuzzy, striped fur and was so young its eyes weren't open and it didn't have teeth yet. Meena gasped in horror when she saw the throughly soiled diaper the infant was in. She changed the cub out of the filthy diaper as Ash jumped down and darted out to the kitchen. A moment later, the porcupine returned with as many paper towel rolls and tissue boxes as she could find.

"Yeah, I don't have baby wipes. Sorry." Ash smiled sheepishly as she pushed what she could find up on the sink counter. Meena smiled gratefully as she took some tissue and started cleaning the infant as gently as possible.

The elephant instructed Johnny on how to properly hold the cub so his head was supposed and his body was under the warm stream of running water. Johnny was stiff with anxiety and he put all his focus on holding the baby right, internally fretting. "Guys... this really bad." He heard himself say. "I mean, even if Meena knows what she's doin', we still don't 'ave any of the right stuff to take care of a baby. No wipes, formula, bottles..." Johnny's eyes flickered over to the trash bin where the soiled diaper was disposed of. "And no diapers."

"And we don't really have any outside help. Even if we could call a hospital, it's not great weather for ambulance driving." Ash shrugged as nodded towards a window. Her sighed heavily before straightening up on her stool next to Meena. "Okay, yeah, this is less than ideal. Like, waaay less than ideal! But it still better than if the little guy had been left out all night!" The porcupine mustered a smile at the infant. "We just have to hold out til the roads clear up and we can get help. We'll manage."

Meena smiled warmly as Ash spoke, but Johnny was was still uncomforted. "With wot supplies, though? Obviously we have to keep 'im 'ere, but that does change the fact that ya don't own baby stuff." He shrugged helplessly, still very panicked by the hold situation.

Meena's smile fell and her ears pulled a little closer to her face as her nerves acted up, but she still managed to speak. "W-well, you can make a diaper out of clean cotton-"

"On it!" The words had barely left the elephant's mouth before Ash jumped off her stool and dashed to her room. After rooting around for a minute, she pull and large, freshly washed cotton T-shirt out off a pile of laundry she hadn't bothered putting away. She thanked her past self profusely for actually doing laundry yesterday as she fished some scissors out of her side table drawer and cut up the large T-shirt into two square cloth pieces. Satisfied with her handiwork, Ash went back to the bathroom where she found Meena drying the cub off in a fluffy towel. Thinking quickly, Ash ducked over to a drawer under her sink and rummaged around. She caught sight of Johnny watching her curiously and for half a second reconsidered her idea. But the porcupine shook the doubts from her head and decided the gorilla could just deal. With that thought, Ash shamelessly pulled out one of her heavy day pads and used it to line the bottom of one of the cotton square.

"Boom, we've got diapers!" Ash proudly presented the makeshift diaper before turning back and digging out another pad for the other piece of cotton. "And! I even went grocery shopping yesterday, so I've got a whole jug of milk for Tiny here!" Ash finished the other diaper and turned smugly towards the others, mostly Johnny since he had been the most doubtful. She smiled widely at the pleasantly surprised gorilla. "How's that, Mr. Gloomy-pants?"

Johnny was in a bit of awe of the porcupine's quick thinking and up beat attitude. Meena giggled softly at Ash's attics as she took one of the makeshift diapers and tied it up on the freshly cleaned infant.

The baby, who had been squirming and gurgling complaints up until now, had found his lungs and started making his grievances known. Loudly. Ash covered her ears and Johnny winced as he watched Meena try to soothe the infant. "Ya' think he's hungry?" Johnny suggested from his spot next to the sink, trying to be helpful.

Meena nodded. "We need to figure out some way of feeding him!" She all but shouted over the baby's wails.

Ash's eyes lite up and she ran back to her kitchen. She dove under her kitchen sink searching. Johnny followed in and moment later. "Uhh... what are ya' doin'?" He cocked an eyebrow at the porcupine's form rummaging around under her sink.

"I'm looking for rubber cleaning glove." Ash called from under the sink, which did nothing to aid the gorilla's confusion. She continued after a moment. "I think if we cut a hole in one of the figures, we could use that for Tiny to drink out of-"

"Why dan't we just use this?" Johnny's voice cut Ash off and made her crawl back from under her sink to look at what he was referring to. Her eyes landed on one of her water bottles in Johnny's hand. It was a small, plastic bottle with a flip-up rubber tip.

Ash blinked at the item, amazed she hadn't thought of that. "Okay, yeah, that's a better idea." She muttered sheepishly. She took the bottle and wash it twice before letting Johnny fill it with milk. He ran it under hot water while Ash went back to check on Meena.

After detouring in to her bedroom, Ash came to the living room where Meena was sat with the baby once again swaddled in her hoodie. Ash pushed a blanket from her room at the elephant and demanded Meena put her hoodie back on. The little apartment proved to be surprisingly well insulated, but the cold winter air was still finding ways of seeping in.

Meena wrapped the child in the blanket and handed him to Ash as she pulled on her hoodie.

Johnny entered a minute later and found Ash looking decidedly uncomfortable holding the wriggling cub that was a third her size. As soon as Ash saw Johnny she motioned him over and handed out the infant to him.

Once Meena was properly re-hoodied, she turned and saw Johnny with a water bottle full of warm milk in one hand and a very unhappy infant squirming in the other arm. He appeared to be very unsure of himself, like he knew he was suppose to feed the baby, but didn't seem at all sure as to how to do it. The gorilla looked at Meena with pleading eyes before she took the baby from him and smiled.

"Okay, so for cubs, you feed then stomach down..." Meena sat back on the couch as she took the bottle from Johnny and started explaining the feeding process. She unwrapped and turned the baby so his stomach was resting on thigh and she was supporting his chest and neck with one hand. Contrary to her concerns, the cub latched on the the water bottle quickly and drank eagerly. Ash and Johnny sat on either side of Meena and watched over her shoulders with interest and awe.

It was a sweet scene, but Meena eventually got fed up with the other two's constant hovering. The elephant couldn't figure out how the other two teenagers were scared of holding the baby but were fine hovering over herself and watching her every move. Meena decided the other two just needed a little push to get over their obvious nervousness. Ash was leaning so far she was practically on Meena's lap as well, so when it was convenient, Meena shifted and carefully dispensed the infant on Ash's lap. The larger quickly took Ash's hands and show showed the shocked porcupine how the hold the infant and bottle before said porcupine could protest. After of few minutes of stiff, internal panic, Ash started to relax with the baby in her arms. A small smile forming on the rocker's face.

Johnny on the other hand looked very uncomfortable with the baby no longer being in Meena's secure hold. Meena rolled her eyes when she glanced his way. She'd deal with him next.

Once the baby seemed uninterested with the remaining milk in the bottle, Meena went to fetch an old dish rag to use as a burp cloth. With her trunk, she tossed the cloth over a distracted Johnny's shoulder before taking the baby from Ash. Johnny gave the cloth a confused looked that was quickly replaced with a look of panic when Meena handed him the cub. The gorilla straighten up and put his hands up in mock surrender. "Wha-ah-um, I-I don't really think I should take 'im..." He gave Meena an uneasy smiled and tried to ramble his way out of taking the cub, saying the youngster preferred Meena to him anyway. The elephant was not deterred by this and gently pushed the infant into Johnny's arms so that the tiny cub was propped up against his shoulder.

"You were fine with bathing him." Ash almost chuckled. She knew she had probably looked strange with an infant that was almost too big for her to hold, but somehow Ash was sure the former gang member looked even more out of place holding the little cub against a burp rag.

"Yeah, but... Meena was doin' all the real work." Johnny answered feebly, still tense with the baby in his hold.

"You'll be fine." Meena stated as firmly as her timid nature would allow. She stood over Johnny long enough to ensure the cub was being held and burped correctly before turning to leave the room. "Ash, can I get you me help with something?" The elephant gave a quick glance towards the living room, ignoring Johnny's silent pleading for her not to leave in favor of looking at Ash. The porcupine hopped off her couch to follow Meena back to the kitchen.

Once there, Meena helped Ash pull out an old cooler and the two filled it with ice packs from the freezer and the milk jug. Meena was loading the whole colder back into the fridge when she heard Ash joke behind her. "Hey, if we ever get worried about it getting warm, we could stick it outside." Ash was sat on her counter and jabbed a thumb at the snow build up outside her kitchen window.

Meena looked out the window with apprehension. She struggled internally for a moment before giving Ash a worrying look. "Hey, Ash? You... you don't think she'd go back out there, right? To look for him, I mean?"

Ash cocked her head casually. "Who ya talking 'bout?"

"The mother." Meena all but whispered from her spot next to the fridge. She was looking at Ash with fretting eyes. "You don't think she might'ave... I don't know, felt bad and went back for him?" Ash's eyes went wide and they both stared out the window for a long moment. Meena thought for a moment longer before she made up her mind and sighed. "I-I'll be right back."

"Meena, wait!" Ash stopped her friend from leaving and hopped off her counter. "If you go out there and don't find anyone, then what? You can't go looking around for her in this weather. And we can't just keep going in and out to check if she's there, the apartment'll freeze." Ash reasoned sounded as she paced towards Meena. "I've got a better idea."

-  
 **Idk why, but the though of Johnny or Ash having to hold a baby their not use to amuses me! Also, so help me, I could not find the right gosh darn words to describe the stinkin' water bottle rubber bit! I rewrote that bit a dozen times! Hope you guys liked this. Feedback is greatly appreciated**


	3. Chapter 3

**Told ya I'd forget! sorry bout that! Anyway, here's the last part.**

Ash's idea had been to use the side of a flatten box she hadn't bothered throwing away as a sign. They used thick black marker to write "We found the baby. He is safe." along with Ash's contact information in big, clumsy letters. But it was still fairly legible, so the pair bundled up and ducks outside. The sun had gone down and the outside world was already chilled without its presence. Meena set up the homemade sign on top of the dumpster while Ash stood aways back, her hands out in front of her as she directed Meena in adjusting the sign. Once the sign was in place, they gave the area a quick look around and found no one, which was both relieving and disappointing. Ash finally declared it time to go back in and they retreated to the warmer inside of the apartment.

After stomping off the snow on their shoes and losing a few layers, Ash went to turn on all remaining lighting methods they had set up and Meena went to gather up as many blanket as she could find. The winter air was starting to become noticeable in the apartment.

Meena entered the living room a couple minute later with a mountain of blanket and was about to ask Ash about sleeping arrangements when the porcupine caught her eye and Ash brought a finger to her own lips, signaling Meena to keep quite. Meena set down the blankets in a pile on the ground and gave her friend a confused look. Ash just smiled and pointed at the couch. Curled up in the nook of the arm and back of the couch was Johnny, slumped against the back on the couch and soundly asleep. The cub was tightly cradled in his arms, a tiny paw clutching the cloth of his sweater. And to top everything off, there was a gentle purring coming from the cub.

Meena had to cover her mouth to keep her cooing from getting to loud. The scene was overwhelming adorable to her. Ash even used some of her precious phone battery to take a picture of the sleeping animals. Once Meena recovered from the sheer cuteness of her friend and the cub she asked about where everyone would be sleeping. Ash shrugged. "You guys have slept here before. I thought we'd just all sleep on the couch like normal. It's not like Tiny takes up a lot of room." The porcupine pulled a blanket from the pile on her floor and wrapped it around Johnny's sleeping form and the cub as best she could, whispering her reply. Both girls grabbed blankets for themselves and settled on the couch. Meena sat in the other end and let her head lean against the back, and Ash curled up between the two of they with head on Meena's thigh and her legs kicked up against Johnny's. Both were asleep within 20 minutes.

The serene scene lasted a blessed couple of hours before a tiny paw kicked Johnny in the face and crying woke the other two. Meena sleepily got to her feet as her foggy brain remembered something about cubs needing to be fed every few hours. Automatically, she took the fussing baby and ambled off to the kitchen. Ash, whose comfy sleeping position had been disrupted by Meena's leaving, tried to go back to sleep, but was disturbed again by Johnny get up and following the elephant and infant. Ash closes her eyes again, felt guilty being the only one not helping, and begrudgingly got up to trudge to the kitchen, blanket wrapped around her shoulders. The porcupine didn't end up doing much as Meena was trying to soothe the upset infant while Johnny groggily filled and warmed the bottle. Not much was said, after Meena mentioned the need to fed cubs every few hours, Ash brought an small kitchen timer with them back to the living room. After a quick feeding and diaper check, all returned to couch and nodded off within minutes.

The timer went off two hours later and all three sleepily repeated the process. This went on a few more times through out the night. Each time, all three teens fell the need to get up for some reason, even if they were too tired to be of help. During a 4:00am shift, Johnny managed to fall asleep standing up and leaning against Ash's fridge. Meena spared him a sympathetic look before focusing her attention on the squirming cub who was insistent on being fed. When Meena had a chance to look back up and over at her sleeping friend, she also saw Ash on the counter next to Johnny with a pen in her hand. Ash frozen as soon as her and Meena made eye contact.

"No." Meena said simply with exhausted tone.

"It just an eyeliner pen. Completely washable!" Ash shushed insistently as gestured to Johnny. Meena still shook her head and the porcupine grumbled as she slouched back against her cupboards. "His own fault for falling asleep there..."

The elephant rolled her eyes and gave a sleepy smile. She gently nudged the gorilla as she walk past to put away the milk, wincing at the light from the fridge. Once closed, she leaned back against the the fridge door as a large yawn took over. Meena stopped mid yawn when it hit her. Her glaze snapped to Ash who was also sporting the same look if realization. Ash jumped down and bolted to her light switch, practically smacking it. The kitchen lights turned on and Ash's mood jumped through the roof. "The power's back! Johnny, wake up!" She snapped at the drooping gorilla and watched him fumbled awake.

"Huh? Oh, oh! That's great! We need to call.. who do we call?" Johnny clumsily pulled his phone before realizing he had no idea who to contact about finding a baby in a dumpster.

Meena had beaten him to finding a place online, but sighed at hours of operation. "St. Huron children hospital is closest, but it doesn't open until 7." She yawned and gave her phone a disapproving look. "We could try calling Rosita. Or maybe my mom. They might know what do." Meena's sleep riddled brain struggle to come up with suggestions.

Johnny shook his head. "Naw, even if one of 'em is awake, they might try t' come out 'ere if we told 'em what was going on. I don't want either of 'em driving at this hour." His brow furrowed as he thought. "There's always 911."

Ash cocked an eyebrow at him from where she was leaning against the wall. "But there's not really any emergency, though. I mean, Tiny seems happy." She smiled and jabbed a thumb at the little cub in Meena's arm, contently chewing on the blanket he was wrapped in.

"He also seems pretty awake." Meena mentioned remorsefully. The cub's eyes still weren't open, but he was moving around and kicking at his blanket.

Realizing the cub may not go back to sleep anytime soon, Ash cleared her throat and spoke. "Okay, new plan. We make a bunch of coffee and wait out the three hours until the hospital lines are open. Cool?" She was already digging through her cupboards for her coffee before the others could answer.

A few minutes later, they all had piping mugs of coffee and Ash had turned on the TV to try and find something worth watching. Despite Meena's best efforts, she couldn't stand the taste of coffee and could only nurse the mug in her hands. The elephant soon nodded off, unable to consume her caffeine quick enough. As she was sat on the floor leaning back against the couch, Meena soon slump over sleeping against Johnny's legs.

Johnny had long since confiscated the baby from the drowsy elephant and was playing with the tiny cub, letting the infant gnaw and wrestle with his hand. The gorilla only looked up from the wrestling match when he felt the weight of Meena's head against his knees. He smiled, deciding she had done the most work and deserved the rest.

Click

Johnny's gaze shot up in time to see Ash snap a picture of all of them with her phone. "Aren't you three adorable?" She teased a stiff and blushing slightly Johnny. The gorilla gave Ash a suspicious glare that her only return amused grin. She climbed up in the couch next to him. "Sorry, but there's something kinda funny about seeing my 'tough, former criminal' friend all curled up with Tony the Tiny here." Ash leaned against Johnny to look over at the infant.

"It was pretty funny seeing a moody rocker bottle feed 'im too." Johnny lightly jabbed back with a smile.

The night carried on sleeplessly with many cups of coffee and lots of bad TV. At 6:45, Ash was calling the hospital line repeatedly. At 6:58, she finally got in touch with a very irritated receptionist who was straining to remain professional. The receptionist's tone made it clear this had better be important, and Ash took great pleasure in hearing her tone switch to shock at the words: "Yeah, we found a baby in the dumpster." The receptionist on the line, who clearly didn't think three teenagers should be left with a new born, sent out an ambulance to collect the child despite the weather. Less than an hour later, a nurse arrived at the small apartment.

The nurse, an elderly camel, laughed when she saw the make-shift diaper the child was in. "Well now, this is a first!" She said as she eyed the three worn out teens with a soft smile. After quickly changing the cub into a proper diaper, asking about how the infant was cared for, and collecting Ash's contact information, the trio had to say there last goodbyes to the now half-asleep cub. After all three stood in the doorway to watch the ambulance drive any for a bit, both relieved and a little sadden, Meena yawned and slinked back to the couch to collapse on top of it. She was barely conscious enough to register the other two follow suit and both fall half on top on her.

Epilogue:

Two days later, Ash got a call. Five minutes laters, she was frantically trying to contact both Meena and Johnny. The ecstatically happy porcupine managed to convey a time and place to the other two teen, leaving the larger two mammals with many questions. Later that day, all three met at the cafe Ash had told them to go to and once again, Ash left her companions in confusion as she waltz right into the cafe without telling the others why they were here. She ignored her friends' questions in favor of looking around the small cafe. After finding her targets, Ash lite up and cheerfully approached a friendly looking lion and cheetah sat at one of the tables.

Meena and Johnny traded inquisitive looks. Ash had her fair share casual friends and acquaintances, but the two adult male cats look to be somewhere in there thirties, and not like the kind of animals Ash would normally make friends with.

A flustered Meena stumbled over a proper greeting to the two adults, still trying to figure out why she was meeting them. Any curiosity Johnny had about the two cats was replaced by curious over a small baby carrier next to the cheetah. Leaning to the side a bit to peek in the carrier, Johnny caught a glance of a small, fuzzy, striped form. His eyes went wide with realization. "Wait! Is that..?"

Johnny interrupted the polite small talk between Meena and the two strangers. Neither cat seemed to mind and were actually smiling fondly. The cheetah reached into the carrier to rustle out the cub.

Ash was beaming ear to ear as the cheetah presented a familiar little tiger cub. "Meena, Johnny, meet Tiny's new dads!"

 **sorry for the rushed epilogue! I wanted Tiny to get a happy ending! Please let me know what you think**!


End file.
